


Advice for Surviving

by LBibliophile



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Advice, Atonement - Freeform, Betrayal, Father Figures, Friendship, Gen, Guilt, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Poetry, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, War, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2017-05-11
Packaged: 2018-10-30 15:06:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10879308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LBibliophile/pseuds/LBibliophile
Summary: Harry has to deal with some pretty heavy stuff, but he is not the first. The previous generation shares advice from their own experiences.





	Advice for Surviving

When fate seems to hate you, and all the world’s against you, how do you survive it? How do you go on?  
(For the Boy-Who-Lived bears the weight of the world, and feels he must bear it alone)

***

You smile and laugh and pretend so hard that sometimes you believe your own lie.  
(Sirius the Gryffindor is a world away from Sirius the disappointing son)

You live in the present, savour each moment, try to forget the coming pain.  
(There is no avoiding the monthly test a werewolf has to face)

You find something you are good at, something you enjoy, and let it fill your mind.  
(Potions are not just a tool, or profession, or hobby; they are an escape)

***

When you can’t take it anymore, get out; you’ll see you should have left years ago.  
(Moving in with the Potters always was the best decision he ever made)

Find friends who, your secret found, only seek out ways to aid.  
(He sometimes wonders how he would have survived without the support of the Marauder’s band)

When you see you’ve done wrong, seek amends; you never know how long you have.  
(In the end it was not enough to save her, still the information protected others)

***

Remember the truth, whatever they say; it was not your fault, but theirs.  
(James, Lily; both dead. I’m innocent. It’s the traitor of a rat who gave them away)

Remember the past, but do not let it bind you; new opportunities always arise.  
(Fourteen years are too long to hide from the world; and besides, there are bills to pay)

Remember always that which you fight for; your reason for remaining.  
(He can never do enough to make it up to her, but his life is dedicated to trying)

***

Though fate seems to hate him, and _half_ the world’s against him, still Harry survives and goes on  
(For the Boy-Who-Lived bears the weight of the world, but knows he won’t bear it alone)


End file.
